Risk management of chemical substances:
ECHA sees need for regulation of 1,900 substances

Of the approximately 4,100 substances that are manufactured or imported annually across the EU in quantities of more than 100 tons, around 1,900 should be regulated. ECHA found this out when reviewing substances as part of the Integrated Regulatory Strategy (IRS) and published it in a report.

Regulatory risk management measures include, for example, harmonized classification and labelling or a restriction in accordance with the REACH regulation. However, according to the report, further data would be required for two out of three of the 1,900 identified substances in order to confirm the relevant hazards.

Background

With the reviews, ECHA wants to clarify which of the substances registered under REACH should be regulated as a priority. Some groups of substances have already been included in the EU roadmap for restrictions, including

Bisphenols
Ortho-phthalates
Hydrocarbylsiloxanes and hydrocarbylphenols.

ECHA's overarching goal is to use the IRS to obtain substance data more quickly and to identify groups of substances of concern more rapidly in order to speed up the regulatory process as a whole. According to ECHA, cooperation between ECHA, the authorities of the member states and the European Commission has already been improved.

Next steps

ECHA will continue the IRS activities from 2024 to 2028 with the main focus on agreeing and implementing risk management measures more quickly. In doing so, the authorities should act according to the principle of One Substance - One Assessment (OSOA).

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